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BROADCASTER LARS LARSON DEFENDS GUN RIGHTS

When tragedy struck a western Washington high school just days before a volatile gun control initiative battle was to be decided at the polls, nationally-syndicated talk host, and Oregon native, Lars Larson weighed in with a commentary that blistered gun control advocates who tried to exploit the incident to push Initiative 594, an onerous “universal background check” measure.

Larson’s commentary revealed that he voted against the gun control scheme, and he explained why.

“When a teenager went crazy and shot his friends at Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington,” Larson explained, “a number of you wrote to me and said it would fuel the support for 594. In fact, the opposite is true.

“Jaylen Fryberg shot five of his classmates before shooting and killing himself,” the veteran broadcaster detailed. Police say Fryberg used a .40 caliber handgun belonging to his father. (Initiative) 594 would not have prevented Jaylen Fryberg from getting hold of that gun. Three months ago his parents gave him a hunting rifle for his birthday. Initiative 594 would not have prevented that because gifts among family members are exempt under 594. These so-called ‘expanded background checks’ are a favorite political hobby horse of folks who think rules will stop crimes.

“Fryberg broke one rule by bringing a pistol to school,” Larson concluded, “broke another by shooting it, broke more by murdering classmates, and even broke a law by killing himself. Rules didn’t stop him…and passing one more won’t make any difference at all. A teacher stopped the shooting but might have stopped it sooner if armed with a gun.”

Larson, a native of Tillamook, Oregon, has been in broadcasting since he was a teenager. He attended the University of Oregon.

A staunch Second Amendment advocate, Larson has become a Northwest icon and he has remained in the Pacific Northwest, from whence he broadcasts his national show. Today, he is considered to be among the top radio talk hosts, and in 2011, he was the recipient of the Oregon Association of Broadcasters’ “Oregon Personality of the Year” award.

Although he broadcasts from a studio in Portland, Larson is a Washington resident, so he has “a dog in the fight” when it comes to gun control issues in the Evergreen State. He is an enthusiastic hunter and gun owner, and he has thousands of followers on Facebook and Twitter.